Store is first to tap into 'raw milk' market

Londoners will be able to buy un-pasteurised milk from a department store from today after Selfridges became the first retailer in Britain to stock it.

Previously, those wanting "raw milk" - which is sold untreated - could only buy it from a farmers' market or over the internet. But now it is on tap from a dispenser in Selfridges Food Hall.

It is widely available across the Continent, particularly in Italy where there are hundreds of distribution machines. But it is illegal for shops in England and Wales to stock it.

Drinkers prefer raw milk to pasteurised for its fuller taste and claimed health benefits. It is said to alleviate eczema, hay fever and asthma and help those with low immunity and be good for lactose intolerant people.

Selfridges is able to bypass the ban by allowing the farmer to sell it - legally - from the store. Andrew Cavanna, Selfridges' fresh food buyer, said: "We first noticed the trend at the farmers' markets we visited. The taste of organic raw milk is second to none."

The product comes from Longleys Farm in Hailsham, East Sussex, and is delivered to Selfridges in a sealed stainless steel tank, ice cold, each day. Customers get a recyclable glass bottle which they fill up from the dispenser, at a cost of £3.50 a litre or £2 for half a litre.

Farmer Steve Hook said demand was up four-fold. "We started selling raw milk in 2007, as we felt customers were looking for an authentic, unprocessed product that retains many of the health benefits that pasteurisation can destroy."

But Dairy UK, which represents producers and processors of 85 per cent of milk sold in Britain, wants it banned. Technical director Ed Komorouski said: "Raw milk can have a high food safety risk. It could have organisms that are harmful to health."

Taste test

Considering I grew up in Sussex no more than 10 minutes' drive from the farm where this product comes from, I am a little embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I have tried unpasteurised milk.

So as I approach the machine in Selfridges' Food Hall, insert my money, press the start button and wait for my glass bottle to fill up I am a little uncertain.

But within seconds of my first sip I am an instant convert. The taste is fresh and creamy and definitely has a hint of something about it that confirms that it has come straight from the cow.

It is full-fat, but unlike pasteurised milk it does not leave a cloying film in your mouth and - to the disappointment of the Evening Standard photographer who is always looking for a picture opportunity - it does not give you a white moustache.

It also does not have the watery taste of skimmed or semi-skimmed. While I'm not entirely convinced of the health benefits, and at £3.50 a litre it's not cheap, I am definitely willing to give it a go because the taste is so good.